It is great to come back to El Colorado, Chile, in order to bring digital beacons to their patrol. Our work with El Colorado started in 2012. Since then, through donation, the South American Beacon Project has been able to equip the patrollers with beacons. In 2013 through the Theo Meiners Snow Safety Foundation we could equip the patrol with shovels and probes. Now as we are changing a once analog fleet for digital, it is great to have the continued support from Juan and the rest of the El Colorado Patrol.

Thanks to La Parva for hosting this presentation on partner rescue for newer patrollers, and hasty searching for more experienced patrollers. La Parva is a ski area within 60 km of Santiago, Chiles major metropolitan epicenter.

Great to get more beacons and training to this group. The municipality is responsible for police officers, plow drivers, emergency road personnel, and park rangers, who serve roadways which pass under these significant side paths. These Men and Women have been, and will continue to be, the first responders to avalanche accidents which take place on this busy route.

The Municipalidad de Lo Barnechea is the Municipality which serves the Central Cordillera outside of Santiago. Their police, respond to all types emergencies. The plow drivers clear kilometers of road under serious avalanche terrain. Their emergency road crew responds to emergencies on that road. Their park ranger’s serve the Parque Yerba Loca, which also contains many avalanche paths. Over the course of two days all of these organizations, working under la Municipalidad de Lo Barnechea, gathered and learned basic rescue techniques for avalanche rescue. Thanks to Sole for organization of this great initiative, to the municipality for seeing the importance of avalanche training, and all the participants for continually striving to make their community more prepared.

Antillanca is a small mountain situated outside of the city of Orsorno in the heart of the lake (and Volcano) region. To be able to give beacons and training to the close knit group working at Antillanca is a pleasure and honor for us.

Once again we are honored to be invited to teach such an amazing crew. Fraile is the heart of the ski community in Coyhaique. While the Patrulla de Ski Chile is a volunteer rescue organization, they are the only rescue at Fraile. Thanks for the incredible hospitality. It was an honor over two days to put beacons into the hands of this response group and teach Basic Avalanche Awareness and Rescue Clinic.

This is a community who not only needs more of this type of education, but actively wants it. This was easily illustrated by the 100+ people who showed up with little notice to our Avalanche Awareness presentation at El Montanes bar.

This class was originally never planned. I met Fernando 3 days prior to this class. I started passionately talking about the Beacon Project and our vision for avalanche education and accident prevention in South America. It immediately became apparent he shared that same passion. 3 days later I found myself in a bar I had spent many nights in 8 years prior, as a patroller new to Chile…but this time was different.

The community had once again filled the local bar but, instead of drunken yelling, it was silent. 100 people were listening, 100 people chose to come, chose to learn how to make safer decisions in the backcountry. Our avalanche presentations are no substitute for a certification class, nor will they ever be. They serve as an introduction. They are the first step. Thanks to Fernando of Base Camp Farrellones, El Montanes, La Parva, and the Municipality of Barnechea for helping the South American Beacon Project introduce a new way thinking, and helping 100+ people choose the first step towards avalanche awareness in the Central Cordillera.